The perfect cafe racer?

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So I found what could be the perfect cafe racer.  The right colour (orange), the right number of colours (three, of which two are to be black and silver), the right muffler angle, the right tail shape and generally very cool.

































Pity it's Lego.  Might get to build it this weekend, if we get past the favoured Ninjago.

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Digiplex ignition curves for George

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Two advance vs manifold vacuum curves for Digiplex equipped Ducati.  Top is 906 Paso, bottom 1990 900SS.  I think they're both the same.  From memory the 750 Paso, 906 Paso and 900SS all used the same control unit too.

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Crank shimming info for Monster Forum thread

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Thread here - http://www.ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=56927.msg1058597#msg1058597

Pictures below to match the text in post down the page:

Photo for Suzy

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Computer issues, booking lead time, general whining, etc

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My laptop is currently throwing a hissy fit, which means I can't use my normal email and I can't invoice anything.  I will be checking emails, but only replying to those that are immediately important.  Or interesting.  Can't define interesting, but if it appeals to me I'll respond.

Which is also based on how much the work on the benches is getting me down and my need for a distraction.  I'm currently finding myself in one of those "can't get anything finished" ruts.  I have a 906 Paso that was a simple starter clutch replacement.  Turned out it had a cooling system half full of mud, now it's water pumps seals and impeller (which can be hard to find) and more.  This sort of thing happens more often than not and it shoots my scheduling to pieces.

It seems to happen in runs.  I'll get a month of nice, simple services where everything works as it should.  The odd chain and sprockets or steering head beaings thrown in, but all easy and generally bits on the shelf, etc.  To the point where my system of booking no more than 3 days of work a week begins to leave me with nothing to do.  The bikes come in, get worked on and leave.  I love the "leave" bit.  It also means I get paid, but that's not so much the issue.

Then it all goes pear shaped.  Machine shops taking weeks to do jobs, non contactable owners, waiting for parts, top end jobs becoming full engine rebuilds, everything youtouch turning into another drama, etc.

The fact that I'm booked up until Tuesday, July 17 gets overwhelming too.  I know it's bad form to complain about such things, but it also means that if I decide right now to give myself more wriggle room, it won't have any effect for 2 1/2 months.  But I can't think of any other way of organising the work to make it easier for me without pissing customers off any more than it is already.
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A 998S motor showing it's bits

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I had a 998S motor in bits recently and the owner asked me to take some photos of the process.  I found the photo taking process quite intrusive to my flow initially, but must have settled into it in the end.  I thought I'd post a few of them showing what happens along the way.

As it arrived, on the pallet of its sturdy box.

Crank and gearbox in to check shimming (without LH case on).

Measuring crank end float to set preload.  The original main bearings were retained and I reduced the shimming by 0.20mm to give 0.20mm preload.  I was surprised how noticeable the extra 0.05mm was over the 0.15mm preload that I usually use (998 spec is 0.20mm) in terms of turning the crank by hand.  And at 0.40mm, as it would have been, you can hardly turn the crank by hand when grabbing it by the LH snout you can see below.  I'm often amazed how much preload I take out of these late thick shim motors.  At a training course at the factory in 2002 I was told there was a spec in the manuals for checking the runout on the RH (primary drive) end of the crank to tell if it is over preloaded - ie, how much the webs being forced together by the preload is bending the big end of the crank, but i've not found it in any that I've looked in.

I laid some white paper down on the floor, and with the doors shut and me up a ladder took some shots of most of the bits required for a 998 motor.  The heads came complete from Biggelaar in the Netherlands, and the crank and gearbox had been reshimmed and the rods refitted to the crank prior to this photo being taken.  This was 10:18 Friday morning.

Crank, fitted with the std Pankl Ti rods and balanced.  It had weight welded in during balancing.

Clockwise from top - primary drive, starter drive, timing and starter intermediate gears, supplied lightened by owner.

Crankcases joined and left hand side components assembled, ready for alternator cover to go on.  You can see the red painted hollow screw that feeds oil from the RH to LH cases for piston squirting.

Moved from laying RH case down on the bench to a stand through the engine mount holes at the back of the cases.  Primary drive gears and oil pump in, reading for primary drive cover to go on.

Vertical head on.  This was where I finished Friday afternoon.  I am required to be home by 6pm, which is not a bad thing either.

When I'm overrun with work (most of the time) I come back after the little man is in bed and work from 10pm to 1am-ish to catch up.  So Friday night the horizontal cylinder, head and ancilliaries went on.  Saturday night I got into the cam timing, set to the usual 105/109 with belts at running tension.  I know this is more advanced than many people run the inlets, but it doesn't seem to hurt them at all power wise and certainly fills out the middle nicely.

And, 12:20am on Sunday morning, it's ready to go back in its box Monday morning for a truck ride across the country.

Back in the bike it made 146hp on a dyno in Perth. Prior to the work it had made 131hp on the same dyno.  This bike was the one featured in the 998S report when owned by the original owner in Melbourne, when it had made 133hp on the old Dynobike dyno.

Speaking of stands: Moto Guzzi Daytona, Sport, V11

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Another stand Chris at Anderson Stands made me is this one for the Guzzi Spine frames from Daytona RS/Centauro/Sport 1100i (might work on the original Daytona, dunno) to V11.  It picks up on the nuts of the lower gearbox mount, a somewhat natural place for a stand.  On the V11 it can foul the brake pedal and gear lever, but it's a great way to sit them up and work on them.  I really like this stand.

Workshop stand for Aprilia, Ducati and MV Agusta - through the swingarm pivot

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Chris at Anderson Stands made me one of his swingarm pivot stands some time ago that I thought I'd post a picture of.  Compared to his usual swingarm pivot stand mine has a foot on both sides, making it extra stable.  It's a great stand for Aprilia V990 models - RSV, RSVR, Tuono, Falco - as there's no other way to get the front up in the air on them easily.  You can't jack under the sump and you can't grab the frame easily.  With the bike on this stand you can pull the rear wheel down to the workbench and they sit there happily.

It's also a great stand for Ducati and MV models.  For (most of) the single sided swingarm Ducatis and the MV you unscrew the 20mm hex headed cap in the RH end of the swingarm pivot and poke the rod through.  This makes it very easy to play with the rear end, nice for the MVs when you have to pull the rear axle to check the swingarm pivot bearings.

You can also poke the sliding sleeves (it'll make sense if you have one) into the front or rear engine mount bosses on the frame to lift up the front or rear respectively easily too I've found.  Good for the SxR Monster models with the footrest hangers that screw into the ends of the swingarm pivot.

Photo below shows it in use on an MV Brutale.  Is very good.

Danmoto Jisu mufflers on Minnie the 600M

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I bought some Danmoto Jisu (tri-oval?) mufflers to try on Minnie and finally had a go at fitting them a week ago. They're perhaps a bit big due to the shape? Dunno. They need to be mounted as high as possible otherwise they'd look a bit odd. So I had them right up under the passenger footrest with the strap acting as a buffer between muffler and footrest, and the supplied mount link running almost horizontally between strap and mount hole. Here's some photos for the benefit of the thread on the Monster forum.

Phones and school holidays

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For anyone that's had trouble contacting me over the last few days, my phones and internet were out until yesterday afternoon. Which coincided nicely with my mobile being offline as it was moved from one network to another and then I had to learn the basics of an iPhone. Which inexplicably died yesterday afternoon only to be somewhat happy again this morning.

I'm also out of the factory until next Tuesday due to school holidays.

If you want to contact me best to email: brad@bikeboy.org
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Ducati - Grabby, shrieking clutch and how I cured it

Check this thread from Ducati MS, might be of interest to some of you.

http://www.ducati.ms/forums/56-superbikes/123775-grabby-shreiking-clutch-how-i-cured.html

848, 1098 and 1198 air filters wearing on airbox

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In addition to the not sealing at the ends issue, I've seen quite a few of these with the air filter worn on the underside by the airbox - the plastic edge is maybe 2mm wide and it cuts into the filter. So now in addition to the rubber at the ends to seal the filter I also add a small piece of stick on foam to the bottom of the air runner flange at the airbox end to lift the filter up a little.
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A 400 Monster

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I rode into the City on Friday with the intention of buying myself a Christmas present - a 400 Monster Ray Quincey Motorcycles had advertised on bikepoint with an "immobilisor issue". I figured that theoretically my software would allow me to just disable the immobilisor section of the ecu and it'd be fixed and ready for me to onsell, making a few bucks along the way. But, as it turned out, the rest of the bike was a bit too rough for me to buy with the intention to fix and resell as I just can't help myself and want to fix everything and profit goes out the window.

I did go for a short ride once we got it going (it was a lottery as to whether or not it would be immobilised every time we turned the key on, probably more so than not overall) and it was just such a sweet thing to ride. The injected M400 have the APTC clutch and 6 speed gearbox like a 2006 620 or S2R800, along with the 2 piston front brake calipers. The light clutch and injection make them so much easier to get off the mark and ride at low speed in general compared to the carby models. It was a real pity it was so nice to ride, I'd have had no trouble walking away from it (as I did in the end) if it wasn't.

One thing I did notice about M400 ads is that everyone seems to list them as M400 S ie regardless of whether they're carbed or injected. Injected ones are from 2006 onwards and have dual front discs. The earlier carbed models have a single front disc and little plastic pods sitting inbetween the frame rails above the horizontal cylinder. More importantly for riding, they have a heavier clutch lever effort (typical non APTC wet) and flat spot from a closed throttle that can be more disconcerting than an actual issue when riding.

I did check and reset the cam timing on one carbed model - advancing the cams from 119 and 113 to 107 degree inlet centrelines which really made a difference. The carbed 400 have the old 750 cams, which were run at 110 degree inlet centreline in the F1, not the 119 they spec in the post '86 motors (the injected M400 have the 800 cams). We also raised the gearing at the same time from 14/46 to 15/46 and the bike still went better than before. But as most M400 are bought by L platers who generally have no interest in spending money other than what they absolutely have to and certainly not anything that (I say) might make it better to ride, I doubt I'll do many others. Pity.

This bike also got the Exactfit ignition coils, so it's a well set up M400 compared to how some of them (barely) run as they've come into the workshop.

I did get one in that was an early 95 model (94 to 97 have silver engine covers with the clutch slave cylinder in the clutch cover on the RH side of the motor) and i suspect it had the very early 600 primary drive ratio. I replaced chain and sprockets as part of a service with 15/46 from the previous 14/46 and even then it was near 8,000 rpm at 100km/h. No wonder the owner had found it breathless above 110 before - it would have been well over 9,000 rpm. I figured 15/41 would be what it needed, but didn't have the time and the owner seemed quite reluctant anyway. The varying spec can make it hard to set them up as they need to be, it seems the importers just put the same thing on all of them regardless.
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Happy holiday

Once again we find ourselves at the most frantic time of the year. It's the third time I've made this post, marking the end of my third year in business.

A very big thank you to all those who have supported me over the last three years. Your business is much appreciated. Looking forward to next year it'll be more of the same I expect, although I hope to be both more organised and productive. It's amazing how many hours you can lose some days being busy doing nothing of note. But I guess that's probably a pretty accurate descripton of a one person business.

Happy holiday of choice to you all and I look forward to being as helpful as possible next year. I will be open again from January 9th. You can email me prior to that, but I may not be overly prompt in responding.
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Photo from the Festival Of Italian Motorcycles

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Rob Labuc took a few photos of my little display at the Festival Of Italian Motorcycles. It was a good day overall. I spent all, but about 10 minutes standing under the (successfully deployed) pergola talking. Rob manned the stand while I had a quick wander around to see what was about.

I did get to have a look at the bike that won my award, Markus's 851SP3. I've known Markus virtually for some time on the 851-888 forum, but had never met him in real life. It's a very nice SP3 too, apart from those god awful bloody blue Samco radiator hoses. Really can't stand them.

My 851 had a nice trailer ride and looked very nice too. I was surprised how good it looked with just a wipe over. For a little while there was a very nice little Bultaco Metralla next to it. A bit of a ring in (woka woka woka) perhaps, but some lovely retro none the less.



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The joy of motorcycling

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Waxing a little lyrical perhaps, but I had to ride home from work tonight due to "my" car being requisitioned by Hunnybunny while her car is being fixed after she got nailed recently. Naturally I had to spend a little time making Minnie go before I was able to proceed, but it was only a flat battery and easily overcome.

A few weeks ago I lavished some attention on Minnie. I realised her belts were (stopping to look at the dyno run dates) about 5 years old, so figured a new pair and some fresh oil and a filter and brake and clutch fluid was in order. And while I was at it I should work out why the throttle was so bloody heavy. I thought it was because the carbs were gummy in the shafts due to her sitting for a couple of years while she was between motors, so took it as a good opportunity to fit the US spec 900 carbs I'd had for some time. My theory was the 900 carbs, being US spec and leaner on the pilot circuits (theoretically anyway), would work better with the 750 than the 600 carbs, which I wanted to make sure I could keep should I sell this motor.

Jets and needles were swapped between carb bodies and the "new" carbs fitted. Turns out the cable heaviness was just cables in need of lube, which surprised me as I thought I'd replaced them for no change at some point in the past. That's the problem with my memory though. But after a thorough lubing (which I generally don't recommend with modern cables due to the linings they use, but who am I to listen to my own advice) the throttle was back to smooth. I'd almost say it's still improving too, given the ride home tonight.

And as I had the oil out it was a good time to pull the clutch cover and replace the collection of second hand plates (I'd added one friction over std, using some thinner steels to stop the hot up induced slipping, but it was god awfully heavy) with a new pack. Yes, new. Oh the horror. Bought cheap on a service parts specials release by NFI, it still pained me no end to be fitting new parts to my own bike. But at least this part was worth doing. Result: lighter clutch, no slippage.

Not such a success was the ignition pick up replacement. Minnie had been idling badly when hot for quite some time, and the few times I had tried to diagnose it resulted in no result. I had convinced myself it was pick up induced, pulling the alternator cover and replacing them with some of the Electrex P8 parts I have in stock. Once reassembled and ridden it was clear I'd failed dismally. So then I moved on to something I should have tried first. Note to self, replace bolt on bits before pulling the engine apart.

As I have the California Cycleworks Exactfit ignition coils on the shelf I fitted a pair of them in place of the green Dyna Minnie has been running for the last 7 or so years. Of course I had to dig out all the original mounting bits removed when the Dyna went on - an appropriately dodgy "just get it going again" job after one of the original coils died. But once I'd found the old stuff the Exactfits went on in no time and the result was indeed a result. Pissing me off no end that I had spent the time replacing the pick ups. But you (well, I) get that. I do have a good pair of second hand original ignition pick ups to sell as some consolation, more so given Ducati no longer supply them as a spare part.

I'd also done the valve clearances and removed the adjustable cam pullies, replacing them with std pullies and offset keys for the desired 107 degree or so (forget now) inlet centreline. All up a lot of work on one's own bike over a day and a half when one has other work to do. And, as it turned out, tonight was the first ride after the coils went on.

I had finished the day with a road test on a typically modded S2R800, and as I arrived back at the workshop I thought to myself "I'd much rather be riding this home than Minnie". But it doesn't belong to me, so after getting Minnie to run and loading her up (I'm not sure of the long term implications of transporting a laptop vertically in a rear sack) I set off. And, I must say, I was impressed.

Apart from, but in no way ruined by the "now lighter, but still a lot heavier than the APTC clutch in the S2R800” clutch the ride was good. Even if only a few km, it was enough to make me smile and I realised when nearly home that I was enjoying riding Minnie like I hadn't for a long time. Previously the heavy throttle really took the edge and some of the middle too off the enjoyment of riding her. But, with the Megacycle mufflers still fitted after the comparison dyno run done a couple of months ago (and shown below in a previous post), she really does run well. And, for a 750 2V motor, go very well too.

Although I'm a bit paranoid to leave the lights in a most sporty fashion for fear of upsetting the laptop. I don't need that sort of aggravation.

851 SBK photos from 1989 - Phil Aynsley

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Some very cool photos from Phil Aynsley

http://www.philaphoto.com/imageLibrary/displayimage.php?album=102&pos=0
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1000SS Fork job

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Mick, the owner of the 1000SS featured below in the loose screw post, came back to complete the fork rework that was the intention of the previous visit. We fitted some Eibach 0.95 springs (#787-095, 36.4 OD x 297 long) and Motorex 2.5 weight oil, fitting the springs with 20mm of preload (had to cut 17mm off the preload tubes) and setting the oil height to 120mm.

I had the feeling 20mm of preload was too much, which turned out to be correct. With the preload adjusters wound all the way out it only had 30mm of sag with his 95 odd kg on board. So 10mm of preload would have allowed the full use of the adjusters I would assume. Peter from Promecha told me once that 15mm of preload is generally pretty good as a very general rule, and I'd have to say that's advice to be taken.

There were a couple of surprises along the way. The first was the condition of the steering head bearings. With only 7,500km on the speedo some would expect no issues there, but the centering notchiness was enough to make me point and laugh and Mick replace them. Luckily I keep them on the shelf, and the almost greaseless originals were gone in short time.

The second surprise was the forks themselves. First some background - there are two styles of Showa adjustable forks used on Ducatis, or so I thought.

The first style is the 41mm fork initially fitted to the 1991 851. These have a 50mm top OD section (where the top clamp sits) and a 54mm lower OD section (at the lower triple). Fitted to the 851, 888, 900SS and 900M Special, they became 43mm around the same time as the brake calipers went to 65mm mounting pattern, but the outer tube dimensions remained the same. As 43mm they were fitted to the 900SSie, 900Mie, 1000SS, 1000Mie, ST2, ST3, ST4, ST4S, S2R, S4 and S4R. Some had gold TiN sliders for looks, but were otherwise the same internally. Or so I thought. The main internal feature of these forks is that the rebound adjuster, in the top of the fork cap, has the needle valve at the cap. So the oil in the rebound bypass circuit has to flow the full length of the fork cartridge rod to escape. I'm not sure if this is the sole reason for their crappiness, but it does lead to less than desirable action. Not that they are bad forks, and they can be made quite acceptable and certainly better than std with revalving and respringing - as typical of Ducati Showa forks they have too much high speed compression damping among other things. But even with help they have some designed in issues.

Which brings us to the second style, introduced with the 916 in 1994. These 43mm diameter forks are 53mm OD through both top and bottom triple clamps, and their main internal feature is that when you remove the fork cap, it comes out with a long rod attached to it. The rod is about 600mm long from memory - it definitely stands out compared to style 1 above. This rod is again the rebound adjuster valve, but instead of working at the top of the fork, it works at the cartridge, right were the action is happening. The Showa forks fitted to the Aprilia models I have had apart are all this style too (from memory anyway, RS250, RSV Tuono and Falco).

As far as I knew, there are no 50/54mm OD forks with the long rod rebound valve. But when we pulled Mick's forks apart, they had the long rod rebound valve. This bike is a 2006 model, but the same # fork is used in all 1000SS according to Softway, so I'm a bit confused now. I don't recall what any other late model 50/54 Showa have been like when I've had them apart, but I'm sure I've never seen a long rebound valve in any ST4S or S4R forks. The photo below shows the rod I'm talking about, stolen from a post on the Monster Forum from memory as posted by a Swedish fellow who emails me regularly named Torbjorn. He and his mate Thomas with the grenading 888/1026 amongst many others are quite the source of amusement. They have a very cool looking orange 900SSie "rain bike" that is nominally to be used at wet track days. Although it mainly gets used because everything else they or their friends own is failing to proceed. It's by far the most reliable thing they own. The unkind (sarcastic?) would say that's because they tend not to play with it. I think there's a little lesson in there for us all.

Regardless of fork style, as a general rule all the non Superbike forks (Showa and Marzocchi) are sprung way too soft for most people (80 - 95kg) and the Superbike forks are sprung a bit too hard. Most of the SS, M and ST series have a progressive or two stage sort of spring that gives lots of sag with the soft initial section, but then gets very hard and harsh towards the end of the travel. Combined with the high oil levels (usually 90mm or so) and inbuilt excessive high speed compression damping of the Showa they can make for a fairly unpleasant front end.

Anyway, with the 0.95 springs and 2.5 weight oil Mick set off for his hour and a half or so ride home. He had also finally given in to fitting a 14 tooth front sprocket, which takes the gearing from 15/38 to 14/38, much closer to the 15/42 I like so much on these bikes. Mick is a country rider, so low speed city commuting is not something he experiences. But I still like the shorter gearing regardless, and a 14 tooth front sprocket is cheaper than a larger rear and new (longer) chain.

He texted me later that night with the following: "Amazing, a totally different bike, no more harsh crashing over bumps, great control thru bumpy corners, found myself searching for bumps, I never thought it could feel this good."

And finsihed with "14 tooth sprocket is the go for sure." Yes, it is. That's why I suggested it.

Generally suspension mods are something that most owners resist like the plague. But, once they have given in to this non visual expense (I think that's a real issue, you can't see the bits they've paid a lot for) and experienced the difference they act like your typical born again christian or reformed smoker and start preaching the benefits to all (although those who have seen the light of lightweight wheels are generally worse). It really can make that much difference.

As our happy Mick is now no doubt telling all his riding mates.
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Festival of Italian Motorcycles November 20th 2011

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I'll be at this year's FOIM next Sunday at the new Coburg location. On display I'll have a selection of the parts we're importing from California Cycleworks - the large HM69 Hypermotard fuel tank, timing belts, etc. I'm toying with the idea of taking the 851 out for a ride too. Well, a ride on the trailer to hang out at a new location for a few hours. It's been in it's current location for nearly 3 years, and it's undoubtedly pretty bloody sick and tired of looking at that wall by now, poor baby.

So come along and say hello. I'll be the one standing under the fold out pergola, assuming that 1/ I have managed to get it folded out and 2/ the wind hasn't blown it away. Here's hoping.
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A dyno comparison

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I took the chance last week to take Minnie to Dynobike to get a feel for how the new dyno compared to the old dyno. Filled with fresh fuel and running the Megacycle slip ons and ignition map loaded into the TCIP4 to replicate a previous run, the result surprised me and made me a little more pleased with some other things I'd run on this new dyno previously.

Dave thought there would be a 5% or so difference, but the graph below shows the two runs - blue is old Dynojet 200, red is Dynojet 250i. I exported the data into a spreadhseet and it's an average 13.2% difference - varying from 10% under 3,000 rpm to 15% in places. Given the Dynojet is an acceleration dyno the variation may vary with the specific power level of the bike being tested, but I don't have anything else at hand that was run on the old dyno to really know.

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Hypermotard tanks are here!

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The first box of Hypermotard fuel tanks from California Cycleworks is here. Price is $1100 delivered to you (additional $25 charge for WA and NT), and, as ever, trade enquiries are welcome. There are two version of air filter kit - 2008 and 2009 being one and 2010 Evo and 796 the other. Please specify when ordering.

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Cam problem on 1000SS ds

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Mick, a previous Moto One employee, bought his 1000SS in today so he could have a bit of a play with it in more equipped surroundings. Plan was to do fork spring and tyres. That plan stalled when he decided to do the belts given they were over two years old and in the process found the vertical cam very hard to turn with the belt off.

So after a bit of a nervous laugh and then the recognition of a potentially much more serious issue he got stuck in, pulling the opening rockers so we could spin the cam fully. This showed that it wasn't a closing rocker dragging, so it was looking much more like cam dragging in head. Nasty. But after we removed the pulley all was revealed and there was a big sigh of relief.

What had happened was that the screws behind the pulley that hold the pulley surround (cast alloy on these engines, rubber on the older 2V motors) to the head had come loose, with one screwing itself out and rubbing on the back of the pulley. Once spotted we could see that this was visually obvious. On the horizontal head the screws were clearly tight, being at the bottom of their recess. You can't get a tool on them without removing the pulley, and the engine wasn't noisy so there wasn't any outward sign of the problem.

So something else to be wary of. You can see the chatter marks on the back of the pulley in the photo below. We're not really sure of the long term potential for damage, but it's not an ideal thing to have happening by any means.
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Staintune clearance sale - 60% off.

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Staintune are having another clearance sale. I can't find a web page for the sale this time, so will run the list of usual makes here. There is a full page ad in this months Cycle Torque for all makes. Anything with twins mufflers is $500 ($1300), single muffler $300 ($700). Good savings to be sure.

Aprilia - Falco, Tuono, Pegaso
BMW - R1200S, 1200ST, 1150GS, 1100R, 1100GS
Cagiva - 650 Raptor
Ducati - 1098, M900, M1000, MS4, MS4R
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Hypermotard Fuel Tanks from California Cycleworks

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I have an order in for 5 of the large Hyper tanks - http://www.ca-cycleworks.com/ca-cycleworks-6-4-gallon-hypermotard-fuel-tank - due in around 4 weeks. At this point of time all tanks ordered will be black. If anyone desires one of the other colours (white, natural, red) please let me know and I can order as required. Retail price will be finalised once they arrive and all freight and customs costs have been paid, but we're hoping for $990 inc gst. A deposit will be required for any non blacks. Trade enquiries welcome too.
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New reports up.

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More of them! I've been getting some writing done lately, which is nice. A 748 with an 853 big bore kit, a 748SP with reset cam timing and tuning a high comp 900SS with FCR carbs.

http://www.bikeboy.org/748with853kit.html
http://www.bikeboy.org/748SPchangedcamtiming.html
http://www.bikeboy.org/900sswithfcrandhighcomp.html
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Cheap Carrozzeria wheels for Ducatis

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If you're in the market for a set of cheap light wheels for single sided swingarm Ducati models, check the specials page on the Carrozzeria web site. http://www.forged-wheel.com/SHOP1closeouts.htm

New Parts From California Cycleworks In Stock

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We now have more of the California Cycleworks parts range in stock, including the Exactfit 2V coils for all carbed and some ie models, fuel sender replacement nuts, case saver inserts and fuel pumps for Aprilia, Ducati, Husqvarna and Moto Guzzi among other things. The Products page - http://www.bikeboy.org/products.html - will be updated soon to show all that's in stock.
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New report up - 900SS with FCR.

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Shock horror! http://www.bikeboy.org/900SSwithkeihinfcr39and41mmcarbs.html

I'll add to this at some point as I've just tuned another 900SS with 41mm FCR and JE high comp pistons that was a little interesting and a little along the "assumptions " line from the previous post.
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Making assumptions

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Sometimes when I book a bike in for a certain problem I just head off on the usual path based on the assumption that it'll be like all the others and it turns out to be completely the opposite. I had an ST2 in for running badly around 3,500 rpm. No surprise there, sounds like your normal, not set up well ST2. For good measure I started with the fuel filter, then did the TPS baseline and throttle body set up and figured it'd be good to go. I'd made the expected changes along the way which helped reinforce the assumptions.

Then I went for a ride. And it did indeed run badly 3,500 rpm. Fine at 3,000 and coming good at 4,000, but rubbish in between. Which I found a bit odd. First I tried adding some ignition timing to the eprom mapping because the ST2 can be a little light on advance in that area, but that made little difference.

So I taped the old FIM hand held terminal to the fuel tank and went for a ride. Generally if they're running this badly you need to make fuelling changes of at least 20% to get a change you can feel, and it felt to me like it was rich. So I went leaner and it got better. By moving the zone borders around on the FIM Megazone system you can isolate bits of the fuel mapping as desired to find out where the problem begins and ends. The result was good, but very wacky.

The ST2 has quite close rpm and throttle break points in this area of the map. And the 45mm throttle bodies see quite a bit more throttle opening for a given condition that I'm used to seeing as most of my work like this has been 4V based with the 50mm throttles. Cruising around 80km/h was using about 10 degrees of throttle opening, whereas on a 4V it'd be 6 or so. The rpm break points in the area are set at 3,000, 3,600, 3,800, 4,000 and 4,400 rpm. I didn't touch the 3,000 and 4,400 rpm lines, or any either side of them, and only few points on the 4,000 rpm line. But at 3,600 and 3,800 it was up to 51% leaner up to and including the 25 degrees throttle opening line, generally 30% or so.

On the 3D graph of the fuel map there was a trench in the map at 3,600 and 3,800 up to 32 degrees of throttle opening. Meaning that in this particular area the bike was trapping much less air or had become very efficient. It didn't feel any different, and part throttle performance is hard to quantify in seat of the pants terms.

The only factor I could see for this were the very loud D and D mufflers fitted, but even that's just a stab in the dark. It was nice everywhere else, so it's not like it's an overall issue. Just a very specific rpm related issue at low throttle openings, which given these systems are defined by throttle position and rpm makes it an issue. If they used an air flow sensing system (or carbs, which are air flow sensing devices) this sort of thing probably wouldn't happen.

Made no sense to me at all, and was certainly not what I expected when I made the booking. But you get that, and overall it was quite a bit of fun. Which I can say because I worked it out - it could have gone the other way fairly easily.
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Ducati closing valve clearances and idle quality

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A few years ago it took me a while to work out that my bad idling 851 was due to a combination of the soft closing springs the early 851 ran and large closing clearances. I had adjusted the clearances before I got it back on the road after the post sale cosmetic strip and reassemble, but I'd also fitted new steel collets in place of the original stainless ones they ran on 88 and 89 models and the clearances had settled a bit, no doubt helped by the 104 dyno runs it's had. So by the time I parked it last it'd done 6,000km or so since and the idle had deteriorated quite a lot.

The soft closing springs contribute, and I've had to work on a couple of bikes over the years that just wouldn't idle due to the soft closing springs some people fit in belief they'll make more power. Basically it's over 2,000 rpm ok, under 2,000 rpm stall.

The ST3 and 996 issues associated with the closing springs and clearances reiterate how important it can be to general running at lower speeds, and I recall one early 851 owner (possibly of the bike I own) saying it ran so much better after a big service.

Anyway, I got bitten by the excessive closing clearance thing a while ago on a MHR Mille bevel drive. It arrived after having a big service, etc, by someone else and "just needed a tune" to finish it off. So I tried to make it idle. After 15 or so hours of replacing lots of worn out carb bits and checking every thing that I could think of, it still wouldn't idle. I mentioned to the owner that I'd run out of ideas, but maybe it was valve clearance related even though they'd "just been done".

So the owner gave me the go ahead to check the valve clearances. Turned out there was around 0.15 - 0.25mm play in the closers, with the openers largly ok. I took the closers down to as close to 0 as possible, put it back together and hit the button. It idled long enough dead cold to let me know it was better.

More recently I had an ST2 in that had 140,000km on the clock and had just had the heads off. Nominally it'd come in for throttle body set up and eprom to suit the Staintunes, but once I'd done the TPS baseline and fired it up I knew something else was wrong. Namely, it wouldn't idle. Which was one of the things the owner had mentioned. Again, the valve clearances had just been done, but it was the most obvious thing for me to check. And again there was around 0.15 - 0.25mm play in the closers, with the openers largly ok. I took the closers down to as close to 0 as possible (much easier on a belt drive than a bevel), put it back together and hit the button. It idled dead cold like most of the injected bikes will and I finished the tune from there. The hydrocarbon emissions were a little on the high side possibly indicating some valve guide wear (they hadn't been done), but apart from that it was fine. And ran much better.

I have had 1000DS motors in for valve clearances where i've added 0.15mm to the closing shims to close the clearance up too, although most are in the 0.05 - 0.10mm range. I sometimes question whether it's worthwhile adjusting a 0.05mm clearance on a 2V bike, but it appears it is. I do find though that many of the 1000DS cams have a tight spot at the end of the closing lobes just as the valve starts to open. You can feel movement in the valve when rotating the cam around the base circle, but it will rub as you get to the lift points at either side. So there's always going to be 0.02 - 0.03mm clearance at TDC firing to allow for that.

On the 4V bikes I always take the exhaust closing clearances down to 0.05 - 0.07mm and the inlets to 0.08 - 0.10mm, going to the tight side if the collets are broken and have to be replaced. I've not owned a later 4V bike to know if it really makes a difference you can feel, but it doesn't hurt.
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Airbox mods when fitting FCR to Ducati SS and Monster

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Last time I fitted some FCR to a 900SS I took some photos of the airbox trimming for future reference and thought I might as well post them here too. To do the trimming I use an electric die grinder with a very coarse conical bit. It looks rather medieval, but when it's honking around at 26,000 rpm it's amazingly easy to use gently.

I find you can refit the breather hose to the airbox too, even though the Sudco instructions say you can't. It can be routed under the throttle cables. You need to round the edge of the box below and behind the breather hole to get it all to fit nicely, but if you go gently you can make enough room.

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Cleaning under the fuel pump, etc

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One thing I do when replacing fuel filters on the bikes with removable plates in the bottoms of the fuel tanks (916 series, MV, ST series) is remove the fuel pump from the mount plate and clean under it. On these models the pump's rubber sleeve pushes into the mount tube and is held by a raised ring on the sleeve - you can see the corresponding groove in the photo below. You just pull the pump out (possibly easier said than done), maybe lubing the rubber to make it slide nicely. What you often find under the pump at the bottom of the cavity is shown below - lots of debris and rust. I've seen the cavity full to the bottom of the pump screen with gunk.

749 and 999 have a plastic cover held on the the press nut type of steel clip that you can't reliably reuse, and I haven't spent the time to find the replacements for them yet. Probably the same size as those used to hold the fairing insulations on.

It's always a good idea to have a new O-ring on hand when doing this job, as the one that's been in the tank for some time will usually swell as you remove it. Use lots of grease on the O-ring and tank rolled edge when reassembling, as it's fairly easy to take a piece out of the O-ring which will cause fuel to leak at a significant rate. 916 series, ST series and MV models use the Ducati part 88650011A. 749 and 999 use a smaller ring - 88640331A maybe (from memory).



The Aprilias usually have a black plastic screw on cover over the pump pick up screen, so similarly I always remove and clean the pick up cavity when replacing a fuel filter on them. Like the Ducati models with plastic fuel tanks, there isn't a specified fuel filter replacement interval on the Aprilias. I tend to do them on the 20,000/22,500km service depending on the specified intervals for the particular model. In my experience it's worth doing, as even though you don't get any rust inside the plastic tanks you can still get the gummy build ups.

And on all models always check the breather and cap recess drain tubes or hoses through the tank and hoses external to the tank are clear. If you can't blow throught them, they need to be cleaned. Old cable inners are great for this, as they're flexible, but stiff and strong. Just be careful if you're going through plastic or rubber though.
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848/1098 Ducati Performance Air filters (and other issues from an 848 with 24,000km)

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I had an 848 in for a 24,000km service a while ago that had a couple of issues that i thought would be worth commenting on.

The first was that it wouldn't start, which turned out to be because there was so much water in the fuel tank that when it was parked nose up a slight incline all the engine got was water being injected. One of those "I rode it and parked it and now it won't go" jobs. Turned out the drain tube from around the fuel cap was blocked, so when it rained the cap recess filled up with water and then when the cap was opened it got into the fuel tank. There was at least 1 litre of water in the 8 or so of fuel I drained out. So that was an easy fix.

Second the steering head bearings were so notchy it took a detirmined effort to turn the bars. Just pushing it into the shop and onto the bench bought this to my attention. Steering head bearings are one of those things that deteriorate over time and people just don't notice, so often telling someone their bike needs new steering head bearings is met with a suspiscious "feels ok to me" response. We replaced the original ball style with tapered rollers, although this requires spacing the seal off the bearings. I use the original washer from under the lower seal between the new lower seal and lower bearing and fit another of these washers on top of the top bearing under the seal. Works a treat.

Third was the amount of dirt in the airbox. Fitted with a Ducati Performance slip on muffler kit, the supplied air filter was too short for the space between the air ducts, and you could see the dust on both ends where air had been going around the filter. The state of the bottom of the airbox was quite disturbing for a supposedly dirt free environment though - see the photos. To fix it I fitted a piece of vacuum hose (3 or so mm ID, 7mm OD) around the edge groove of the air runner which loaded the filter a couple of mm when both air runners were fitted. Hopefully that will fix it. Certainly worth checking, as I had a feeling early on that there wasn't a great seal on these filters, but hadn't seen any high km evidence to back that up.

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Closed until January 11th

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I'll be closed until January 11. Before then you can email me and I'll get back to you.

Happy holiday of whatever kind you care to celebrate or not season to you all.
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A Great Video

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About two guys who get their dad's old bike restored. It might be a Norton, but it's a great story so we can forgive that.

http://vimeo.com/11285536
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900SS With FCR 39 and 41 Carbs

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Two 900SS, both fitted with slip on mufflers (Staintune, Gia.Co.Moto), std airbox lids without snorkles and std jetting. Before they were pretty similar:

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After, FCR41 in red, FCR39 in green. Both runs done with the same 152 main jets.

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With FCR39 before and after

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With FCR41 before and after

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Back to work and back into it

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Don't you love it when it hardly seems like you were away? On my first two days back I took a few weeks worth of bookings, and at this point am booked out until the second week of November.

Some people express surprise at this, but it works like this. On a very good week I charge out 30 hours, but on average it's 23 or so. The other 20 odd hours get lost in admin, organisation, parts sourcing, talking, etc. So I don't need a huge amount of work to keep busy. And I find many of my jobs expand from what they were booked in for to what I end up doing, requiring me to not overbook myself (which I am very good at) and allow time for the always expected unexpected.

Some people ask when I'm going to employ someone else, but I have never intended to do that. Before I opened for business I spoke to quite a few people doing the same thing as me, and many who had employed staff at times said they'd not do it again, for a variety of reasons. Employing staff brings much more to the table. Instead of 25 hours of bookings a week I'd need 40 for the employed person plus 15 to 20 for me, so I'd need to find more work. Also that person costs much more than just the wage they get paid - insurance, workcare, etc. And I'd no longer have total control for what was done or said.

As much as I didn't think I'd use the word, the main reason for me is control. It just occured to me that I'm going to be sounding like a control freak (didn't think I was). Frankly, I'm typing as I think and this post has taken on a bit of a life of its own since I started, but you get that. I was intending to have something about 848/1098/1198 Ducati Performance air filters. I'll do another post on that. Maybe I just need to do some writing other than the invoice stories. I enjoy being responsible for them too. It would sometimes amaze me at how a well intentioned service manager could misinterpret what was written on a job card and write something on an invoice that was totally incorrect simply because they had misunderstood (or couldn't read!) what was written. I'm really starting to ramble now, better get back on track.

Perhaps it's more correct to say that I'm enjoying not being responsible for other people. As a service manager in particular I found myself sometimes frustrated at the role I had to play between technician and customer. Now I'm responsible for all the work, all the talk (and the mistakes) and everything else that comes out of Brad The Bike Boy. That's the part that I like. It's not that I had serious issues with anything that happened at my previous employer, but most people know what it's like to have to sort out a mess of someone else's making while still meeting customer expectations and without upsetting any of the parties involved or making anyone look bad.

Of course I'm talking to myself more than before, but fortunately I don't find myself too bad a company.
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Email problems

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If you've been sending me emails and wondering why I'm not replying, I'm having some email issues. Hopefully I will be able to reply to them by Friday 10th.
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Closed for two weeks 30/08 - 10/09.

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As the title says, we'll be closed for the next two weeks. I will endeavour to respond to emails during this time.
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Michelin Power One 120/70ZR17 & 180/55ZR17 to clear.

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I have a pair of Michelin Power One I'd like to move. 120/70ZR17 front, 180/55ZR17 rear in the "road" compound. Normally $535 plus fitting, this pair can go for $525 fitted.
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Ignitech TCIP4 Ignition units in stock

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I now have some TCIP4 Ignition units in stock. Nominally to suit the carburettored Ducati SS and Monster range, these units allow full control of the ignition advance and at $225 are a cheap replacement for the original Kokusan units should one fail.

See http://www.bikeboy.org/ducati2vignition.html for more info.
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Wheel and Tyre Insurance from Swann

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I thought this was info worthy of spreading. Swann Insurance are offering wheel and tyre insurance. A customer in last week mentioned he'd taken out this policy in addition to his normal comprehensive insurance (seperate policy) after he mentioned he had a slow leak in his rear tyre which turned out to be a nail at a very shallow angle and not really repairable.

He now has a new tyre due to this policy, the cost of which (for 3 years) was a bit less than the cost of the replacement tyre. And it also includes rim damage.

So well worth looking into I thought.
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Full EXACTFIT Timing belt range now in stock

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All the EXACTFIT belts are now on the shelf. Range and price per pair as follows, trade enquiries welcome. Postage is $5.50 normal parcel post or $8.25 express post for one pair.

TB696; all 696 and 796; $110

TB800; 1998 onwards 600M, 750M and 750SSie, all 620, 695 and 800 models; $110

TB900; all 900 and 944 2V motors; $95

TB1100; All 1000DS, 1100 and ST3; $121

TB996; 748 (except late build “low head”), 851, 888, 916, 996; $135

TBST4; 748 low head, S4, ST4, S4R, ST4S; $135

TB999; 749, 998, 999, S4RS, S4RT; $154

TB1198; 848, 1098, 1198; $154
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More EXACTFIT timing belts on their way!

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The rest of the EXACTFIT timing belt range - 900 2V, 620 to 800 2V, 696, ST4S et all (desmo low head), 916 et all and 1098 are on their way and should be on the shelf next week. We'll add the belts to our products page with a clear model application chart to make it easy.
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A new photo from the benches

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I had this pair up on the benches a couple of weeks ago and thought they were worth a photo. The Lemans has 30,000 miles on it and looks like a 30,000 mile old Lemans - black paint rubbing through, cracked side cover mount tabs, the usual sort of thing. The MHR has 30,000 km on it and looks like it was new yesterday. I have no idea how he keeps it so clean.

Not sure which one I enjoyed riding the most though. Both typically old bikes - bad brakes, not so nice suspension, all that kind of stuff. But both still very cool in their own way. I think I like the Lemans more, but maybe that's just because it's more like a modern Guzzi. Which may be a back hander for your modern Guzzi now that I think about it. Plus it's lower and more manageable maybe. Or gives you the impression thereof, regardless of whether or not it's true. Certainly the low, long look of the Lemans has classic cafe racer written all over it. The MHR is missing it's belly fairing, but I quite like it how it is.

EXACTFIT timing belts to suit Testastretta 749, 998 and 999 now in stock.

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We now have the EXACTFIT TB999 belts to suit 749, 998 and 999 in stock. These belts retail for $66 each ($132 per pair), somewhat less than the Ducati price of $350 per pair! Trade enquiries are welcome too.

We should have belts to suit 1098 and 848, low exhaust cam Desmoquattro engines (late 748, S4, ST4, S4R, ST4S) and small engines with round tooth belts (1998 on 600 and 750, 620, 695, 800) in stock early June.

More info here - http://www.ca-cycleworks.com/exactfit/
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Some photos for the Monster list of dial indicator holders and tips

Nothing overly special, just valve lift measuring tools for checking cam timing for a discussion on the DMF.

New hope for Digiplex owners

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I got an email today from a fellow named Craig in Sydney who has a Moto Guzzi Sport 1100 (carburetor model) which is fitted with a Marelli Digiplex ignition unit. Craig tried an Ignitech TCIP4 unit without success, but is now running a unit from Cliff Jefferies. Cliff sells the "myecu" replacement 1.6M, P8 and 1.5M ecus and has branched out into this as well. More info on Cliff's stuff here - http://www.cajinnovations.com/MyECU/index.htm

Ian Gowanloch also had some new Ducati Digiplex units for sale, not sure if he has any more. Ian is selling some of his massive collection of bits on ebay under the name italsparesducati. He has lots of older Ducati stuff as well, from single to bevel, Pantah and late 80's 851 and 906. Well worth keeping an eye on if you're into that sort of thing.
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Staintune clearance sale

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Staintune are having a clearance sale - see here for details http://www.staintune.com.au/docs/staintune_sale.jpg
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California Cycleworks Exactfit timing belts in stock

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We now have 1000/1100DS and ST3 Exactfit timing belts (# TB1100) from California Cycleworks in stock. See http://www.ca-cycleworks.com/exactfit/ for more info. 749, 998 and 999 belts should be in stock early April.

TB1100 retail for $55 each ($110 per pair), less than half the price of genuine Ducati belts. Trade enquiries welcome.
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